For Everyone’s Benefit, Men Are Removing The Glass Ceiling
 
 
“Men are accelerating the women’s revolution,
because it’s good for their daughters and good for business.”
                        —Nancy Clark
 
 
I was asked recently what I thought was the major obstacle facing the working woman. There are a number of minor hurdles, but the major obstacle by far is Not Being Promoted As Fast As A Man.
 
What factors are causing this? It’s not education—women now earn 6 out of every 10 college diplomas. It’s not management skills—In Proof That Women Make Great Managers, I talked about studies that show women perform very well. It’s not family responsibilities—a woman returning from a leave to start her family does not dampen her aspirations to rise above middle management. What do the numbers show? How big is this problem?
 
Well, women are now half our workforce. You’d expect them to be half our upper management as well, but when you look at the occupants of Fortune 500’s top two tiers, fewer that 1 out of 5 are women. It appears men have a heck of a head start by being male.
 
Is this a deliberate slight to women? No, I don’t think it is. I think it’s been an oversight by men until recently. Companies are starting to ask how they can gain the loyalty of their female employees, because turnover is expensive. If you want time off to start a family, companies like IBM are willing to give a woman a sabbatical—because it saves money and earns loyalty. A company that overlooks the fact that men are on a promotion Fast Track—and women are not—will not gain the loyalty of its female employees. You can bet women know when they’re on the promotion Slow Track—it does not escape their notice. It will cost that company money and it will turn enthusiastic young women into disappointed employees within 5 years.
 
The fact that you’re the father of one of these enthusiastic young women shines a light on this problem. You begin to notice what’s happening at your company—perhaps for the first time. Take a lesson from Mike Cook of Deloitte and measure promotion rates and ask managers why they felt a woman “was not quite ready to be promoted.” This happens repeatedly because women don’t express their confidence as assuredly as men do. Let your managers know this is a behavioral difference and does not imply lesser talent.
 
Thirty years ago I never would have imagined that I’d be saying,
 
“Men are winning the women’s revolution for us—thank you.”  
 
 

Here’s the tip of the week.
 
Tip:
 
I’m advising you to make a difference for women at your company—using the words of men. Get a copy of a Harvard Business Review article by Douglas McCracken. It’s entitled Winning the Talent War for Women: Sometimes It Takes a Revolution. It’s related to the example of Mike Cook of Deloitte that I mentioned. Send a copy of the article along with an email to the highest ranking man at your company who you think has an interest in saving money. In the email, mention that if he’s interested you’d be willing to put together a taskforce of both men and women  to see if it’s possible to reduce female turnover at your company. Mention that Deloitte & Touche saves more than two million dollars a year with this strategy. It’s another win-win that’s good for women and good for business.
 
Further Reading:
 
Podcast (always less than 10 minutes), Working in Heels, by Nancy Clark, Are Women As Ambitious As Men? —Is Ambition Good For Men, And Bad For Women?
 
 
Blog, Women’s Lunch Talk, by Nancy Clark, Take That Interview Or Promotion Review —How To Improve Your Interviewing Skills
 
Website, WomensMedia, by Victoria Simon and Holly Pedersen,  Communicating with Men at Work —It’s Important To Recognize The Differences

 
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Tags: working, women, business, promotions, glass, ceiling